Area Rugs- the foundation of a room

There are a lot of foundational clothing items on the market these days- Spanx, seamless panties, and a zillion choices for bras.  The pieces you choose directly affect how the rest of your clothes will look on you.  You must choose wisely in order to look your best.  You can apply the same principle to area rug selection.  Choose wisely or risk ruining the whole vibe of your space.

Area rugs can be tricky.  People often make the mistake of purchasing rugs that are far too small for their space.  A couple of factors go into this mistake-

1. lack of understanding for a rug’s purpose

2. the cost of buying a rug. 

Let’s start with talking about an area rug’s purpose. A rug is the foundation of a room.  It’s the first thing you should select when creating a space. Why?, you ask. A rug’s pattern and color scheme is the basis for every other decision you make in a space. The colors in the rug are used as a basis for choosing color for your walls and fabrics, and your pattern will dictate the design style of the whole space.

A rug acts as an anchor for your seat grouping.  In large spaces, there are often multiple seat groupings.  Area rugs help define those seat groupings. 

 Remember earlier when I mentioned that people buy rugs that are too small?  This is where that becomes a problem.  If you are trying to tie together a conversation group of furniture that includes two sofas facing each other with a pair of chairs flanking one sofa, but your rug floats out in the middle under the coffee table, it is going to feel lost and will not be serving its purpose. 

Area rugs also serve as an element of warmth and provide sound absorption.  If you’ve ever walked around barefoot in a room with hardwood floors you know it can be chilly.  Rugs provide softness underfoot and feel warmer than the hard surface flooring.  You’ll notice a big difference in noise when a room with hard flooring has a rug in it.  Without a rug, every little noise carries and can create an echo.  Adding a rug allows the sound to be absorbed therefore making multiple conversations and activities tolerable within the same space.

Onto the second factor for making a rug misstep… price. Price of area rugs can be subjective.  I can’t tell you how much money you should spend on a rug, only you know where you are comfortable budget-wise.  Research the construction of the rug you are interested in buying.  That will tell you all you need to know about why it is priced the way it is.

The purpose and the size of the rug go hand in hand.  You know that a rug anchors a seat grouping and you now know that floating a rug in the center of your furniture is not the way to go.  So how should a rug interact with the furniture? In an ideal world, all four legs of your upholstered furniture pieces sit atop your area rug.  In instances that this is not possible- whether it be an oddly shaped room, budget constraints, etc- you can cheat by just having the front two feet on the area rug.

In dining rooms, you should allow 2 feet from the edge of the table to the edge of the area rug so the dining chair can be pulled out from the table without getting caught on the rug's edge. You don't want your guests to be fighting the rug while trying to enjoy a meal at your table!

What a difference this little change makes!  Take a look at the rugs in your space plan- how do they measure up?  Could you tweak the placement to create a more refined look?  Do they anchor your seat grouping and follow the rule of thumb for leg placement? If not, go back in and adjust.  That’s the beauty of decorating, it’s fluid.

Guest Blogger: Gina Hopper of State Farm with important insurance tips

This topic was planned weeks in advance.  Given the recent tornado here in KY, I think the topic of insurance is even more relevant.  Here is what Gina has to share:

Insurance…I call it the necessary evil.  We pay for something we hope we’ll never use.  But picture this, you come home from your family vacation ready to return to life as usual (almost) and you open the door to see water standing in the floor and dripping from the ceiling.  What happens now?  The simple answer is to call your insurance agent (hopefully they’re local) and they will walk you through the next steps…from getting someone to stop the water and clean it up to making repairs and replacing furniture.

A few questions to consider: 

Do you have an adequate amount of coverage to rebuild your home and replace your belongings if the unthinkable happens?  Even though it’s not required, it’s a good idea to use a digital or video camera to make an inventory of your belongings to be kept in a fireproof box or safe deposit box.  This will help when documenting items that have been damaged or destroyed.  If you have valuable items such as jewelry, rugs, artwork, or antiques, it’s best to have appraisals on file with your insurance provider.  

Have you recently reviewed your policy with your agent?  If you can’t remember the last time you did, it’s probably a good idea to schedule an appointment soon and then follow up every 2-3 years.  If you do a major renovation or addition to your home, be sure to check with your insurance agent to verify your coverage is still adequate.  

The bottom line is that it’s no fun to pay for something we hope we never use.  However, ask anyone who has experienced the devastation of a fire, a tornado, a burst water pipe or “just” a tree limb on the roof, and you’ll hear how glad the person was that they had paid those premiums and had an insurance agent to help them through the situation.  

Gina has been in the insurance industry for over 10 years.  As your good neighbor agent she offers home, auto and life insurance policies.  Most importantly she helps protect your belongings and loved ones when the unthinkable occurs.  For contact information here is the link to her website .

Layering

Layering isn't just what you do when it's cold outside.  Layering is a great way to turn a room into the space you've dreamed about.  Here is an example of a client's room when she first called me in.  

The goal at this time was to select new paint colors for the whole house, one of the rooms being this dining room.  We picked a soothing but warm shade of green to show off the wood floors and furniture.   

 

Once that was complete she was ready to update the chair seats.  After narrowing down the choices we found a beautiful faux silk striped fabric that felt sophisticated but not too stuffy.  

A few months later a rug was the item of choice.  Again, we went for something that wasn't too formal but it coordinated with the fabric and paint in the room and provided a soft barrier between the hardwood floors and the table & chairs.  

What we did was take a layered approach to decorating the space. Taking it step by step allows you to replenish your wallet along the way and live with the small changes as opposed to making drastic ones.  This method doesn't work for everyone, but it does for many. (Note: Normally, I would suggest decorating a room around a rug because the paint colors are endless, but the rug options are not.  In this case, the sequence of events couldn't have been any other way and the end result looks as though we did everything at the same time.) The key to layering is not to get impatient and impulsively buy something that isn't the right fit.  The goal is for the space to look well thought-out and to appear seamless. 

Happy Layering!!

All Things Sisal

Are you wondering the heck sisal is?  Here is the official definition: an agave that yields a stiff fibre traditionally used in making twine, rope and also dartboards.  I am obsessed with all things texture. Some of my favorite things are roped baskets, nubby rugs and woven wallcoverings.  So I’m sharing my sisal obsession with you.  Here are some photos of unique items that add an extra dimension to any space:

Sisal lamp 

Seagrass rug 

Woven baskets 

Grasscloth wallcovering 

Bulletin board; Ballard Designs